Ron Johnson (businessman)
Ron Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | October 15, 1959 |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Minnesota (B.A.) |
Occupation | CEO of Enjoy |
Known for | Business executive |
Ron Johnson (born October 15, 1959) is the CEO and founder of Enjoy Technology. Previously, he was the senior vice president of retail operations at
Early life and education
Johnson was born in
Career
Target
At Target, Johnson was vice president of merchandising, where he was responsible for launching the Michael Graves line of consumer products.[4]
Apple
Johnson joined
According to an article in The New York Times, Apple Stores have turned "the boring computer sales floor into a sleek playroom filled with gadgets" under Johnson's direction.[5]
Under Johnson's leadership, Apple's retail stores achieved a record level of growth, exceeding a billion dollars in annual sales within two years of their debut, surpassing the previous record set by
On October 31, 2007, Johnson exercised 700,000
JCPenney
After his success at Apple and Target, Johnson was hired as
When Johnson announced his transformation vision in late January 2012, J. CPenney's stock rose 24 percent to $43.[12] Johnson's actual execution, however, was described as "one of the most aggressively unsuccessful tenures in retail history". While his rebranding effort was ambitious, he was said to have "had no idea about allocating and conserving resources and core customers. He made promises neither his stores nor his cash flows would allow him to keep". Similar to what he had done at Apple, Johnson did not consider a staged roll-out, instead he "immediately rejected everything existing customers believed about the chain and stuffed it in their faces" with the first major TV ad campaign under his watch. Johnson defended his strategy, saying that "testing would have been impossible because the company needed quick results and that if he hadn’t taken a strong stance against discounting, he would not have been able to get new, stylish brands on board."[10][12]
Many of the initiatives that were successful at the Apple Stores, for instance the "thought that people would show up in stores because they were fun places to hang out, and that they would buy things listed at full-but-fair price" did not work for the JCPenney brand and ended up alienating its customers who were used to heavy discounting. By eliminating the thrill of pursuing markdowns, the "fair and square every day" pricing strategy disenfranchised JCPenney's traditional customer base.[13] Johnson himself was said "to have a disdain for JCPenney’s traditional customer base." When shoppers were not reacting positively to the disappearance of coupons and sales, Johnson did not blame the new policies. Instead, he offered the assessment that customers needed to be "educated" as to how the new pricing strategy worked. He also likened the coupons beloved by so many core shoppers as drugs that customers needed to be weaned off."[9][10][11] While head of JCPenney, Johnson continued to live in California and commuted to work in Plano, Texas by private jet several days a week.[14]
Throughout 2012, sales continued to sag dramatically. In the fourth quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, same-store sales dropped 32%, which led some to call it "the worst quarter in retail history."
Enjoy Technology
In 2014, Johnson founded Enjoy, a
The company went public in 2021, and declared bankruptcy in 2022.[19]
Personal life
As of 2015, Johnson lives in
References
- ^ Tuttle, Brad (9 April 2013). "The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson's Ouster at JC Penney". Time. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Colt, Sam. "The Genius Behind The Apple Store Wants To Help You Choose Your Next Gadget". Business Insider. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "Globality Website". Globality. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- ^ a b c Segal, David (June 23, 2012). "Apple's Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
- ^ Clifford, Stephanie; Helft, Miguel (June 14, 2011). "Ron Johnson, Apple Stores Chief, to Lead J.C. Penney". The New York Times.
- ^ "Apple Retail Store - Store List". Apple.com. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ The Roots of Apple's Retail Stores
- ^ Yarow, Jay (2011-06-14). "Ron Johnson Made $400+ Million At Apple In 7.5 Years". Business Insider. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ a b Macke, Jeff. (2013-04-09) Ron Johnson’s JCPenney: Anatomy of a Retail Failure | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
- ^ a b c Tag: Ron Johnson | Business & Money | TIME.com. Time. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
- ^ a b Eight Lessons from Ron Johnson's Ouster. Forbes. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
- ^ a b How Apple store wiz kid Ron Johnson became J.C. Penney’s problem child. Vancouver Sun. (2013-04-09). Retrieved 2013-07-26.
- ^ Three Leadership Lessons from Ron Johnson’s Debacle at J.C. Penney. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ^ Covert, James S. (February 11, 2013). "Ritz Crackpot CEO Stays in Luxe Hotel While Penney Flounders". New York Post.
- ^ Blodget, Henry (February 28, 2013). "TO BE CLEAR: JC Penney May Have Just Had The Worst Quarter In Retail History". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ "Ron Johnson Is Out at JC Penney: CNBC Exclusive".
- ^ Did J.C. Penney Pick The Exact Wrong Time To Fire Ron Johnson?. Forbes. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
- ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke (October 23, 2014). "Apple's Ex-Retail Chief Leads Startup". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Hill, Jeremy; Lipschultz, Bailey (30 June 2022). "SPAC Led by Former Apple Executive Goes Bankrupt Less Than a Year After Going Public". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ Reingold, Jennifer (March 19, 2012). "Retail's New Radical". Fortune. 165 (4): 124–131. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012.
- ^ Chafkin, Max (2015-10-26). "How Failed JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson Is Redeeming Himself With Enjoy". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
External links
- Apple Senior VP Exercises Options at the Wayback Machine (archived November 1, 2007)
- Profile at Forbes